Harriets Blog

This years state titles was going to be a great and it turned out to be wet. Saturday morning we terned up at the track to find it poring down rain. But racing went on,my first race was so slippery and wet you could only just hit the corners slow and still almost slide out it was still heaps of fun and I ended up winning both cruiser and 20.

And a thanks to the Crupi Crack it team for their help.

Last weekend I went to Castle Hill BMX track in NSW for a race called the Orange Blossom Challenge.The track had just been changed and I  have say it was a great track. Very smooth, some great jumps and great racing.I had heaps of fun and ended up win both 20 and cruiser.

On 12 October 2007 Harriet and her dad set off for New Zealand and the Mighty 11s challenge. This is Harriet’s report on the trip.

11 Mighty Days in NZ

Drive from Canberra to Sydney, meet everyone at Airport.
The teams - Junior Girls – Kara, Gemma and Harriet. Junior Boys – Boyd, Kai, Tristyn, Max and Luke. We were all ready to bring the Trophies Home. The Team managers - Lorraine D, Robyn B and of course the Team Coach Freddie (Frank Penrose). I was to become good friends with everyone, this would end up being the best time ever.

Once we got to Auckland we were met by the NZ Team Manager. We all got in to the team bus to go to Waiuku. We went to the local track which we were racing on that weekend. We met some local kids Hollie and Trent, they made us feel very welcome, we had time to get to our Hotel for a quick shower and change. We were meeting some of the billet families and friends for dinner at our Hotel. We had a great laugh, fall into bed at 11.

DAY 2

Waiuku race meet all Weekend. We met 2girls from NZ Team, Hannah who is W1 . We were all to race 12/13 mixed this was a lot of fun racing on a 6 lane track. That night we were all invited to a BBQ at Christine’s place and I believe she has done this for years, everyone in Waiuku made us all very welcome.

DAY 3
We had a short drive to East city BMX club for the HOODY MEETING.
Another full on day with some great racing, with lots of showers and very windy. Again the local people made us welcome. After racing we all got into the team bus for our drive to Hamilton about 1 hr. We went to Hamilton BMX track to meet our billet families and to get our first look at the track for MIGHTY 11 TEST.

The track looked great - hard and fast, some good jumps, bitumen berms. It had been raining lots over the last few weeks but the track is in great shape. We are staying with the team managers Lorraine & Robyn and my coach Freddie. We are staying in Laurie Pinney’s house, Thankyou Laurie!!!.

DAY 4

Today we all went for a trip to Rotorua, we all got into the team bus for a fun day out, they was no way we were going to get lost with Freddie driving. Our first stop Skyline, into the Gondola to the top, we were all ready for the LUGE this was great fun, we had to be careful our coach didn’t take us out, racing was on - what a blast!!.

A quick trip down to see Hot Mud bubbling from the ground this is amazing but a bit stinky! Back on the bus ,to the track for gates, we had a good training session.

DAY 5

Two hour training session at Hamilton.
We did some shopping today .Tonight club race night was a wash out.

DAY 6

Waitomo Caves a great day we all had . With lots of rain, pretty cold too. Rain had stopped for our training session, Freddie worked us pretty hard I was feeling very tired, but still had a great time. The whole team is getting along really well , we are all loving this track, we are almost ready.

DAY 7

We have 2hr training session in the morning, to dial in the first straight. Freddie is getting us all ready, team plans put into place. Aussie Aussie Aussie. Afternoon session Go-cart racing, the whole team and parents had a great day, so we booked a session for tomorrow with the NZ Team can’t wait!

DAY 8

Day off the bikes , but go-cart racing is on .
We meet NZ Team for racing, this is so much fun , it’s like having a slider with a motor, we are sideways on the corners at full speed, what a laugh. Tonight we are having Sponsors dinner at Sky Casino. We also get presented with our jerseys. We exchange gifts with our NZ team friends. This is a good night, we can meet all the teams senior and junior NZ & AUS. Tomorrow the test racing starts.

DAY 9

Time to win back the Trophies. The Track is in great shape, the guys at Hamilton did a good job. It’s a cold morning with clear skies (no rain) and its not even windy.

It was time for the HAKA if you have never seen this before it’s a must, truly amazing you have to give great respect, but we have to stare them out, go up to them after shake their hand and eye ball them. The racing was Fantastic, we had a team plan and it worked. We the girls team would put all our efforts into winning the Test and take it easy in the Mighty 11s which is mixed boys &girls which I love to do, but I had just taken 6 weeks off with a broken collarbone, so I was not feeling very fit. Everyone was going really well, racing good, we were ahead the boys were leading. The racing was good to watch. End of day 1

DAY 10

Here we go!!
2 more motos for the Trans Tasman Test & 3 more motos for the Mighty 11s .We kept to our plan for the Test, and we Won! Everything went really well for me & Kara and Gemma the girls raced for each other. The boys Won! The boys did a great job, they were Awesome. We girls also decided to race a couple of motos in the Mighty 11s, go out there and have some fun. After racing had finished we had lots of photos taken with our NZ friends, - thankyou Gavin D.

Presentation - Time to pick up our Trophies.
What a Fantastic week. To all our NZ friends a Big Thankyou, you made us all very welcome, put on a great show, gave us some great racing. I will remember this for a long time. I hope in a few years I can be part of the senior team, and go back to NZ.

DAY 11

We packed up our Clean Bikes and its off to Auckland for the day! Went shopping for family presents, went up to Sky Tower great view. Airport shopping.

This is where we say goodbye, I have made some great friends but we will see each other soon. Come on Aussie lets give the Kiwis a great time next year!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie.

Harriet BMXer.

Harriet was feeling good with a lot of effort having gone into keeping her healthy in the months leading up to the Worlds. We got her there in good health but unfortunately were not able to keep her that way. In the warm up practice laps she crashed (lightly) and was getting up and off the track when a larger rider (18yr old Aussie who felt very bad about this) came off a jump and landed on top of Harriet knocking her briefly unconscious and fracturing her collar bone. So she didn’t get a chance to race.

Glad to say she is recovering well and hopes to be off to New Zealand in October for the “Mighty 11s” Challenge.

Thanks to Crupi in USA for the brilliant pink 20″ & Cruiser frames which they gave her at reduced cost in Canada and which went some way to restoring her spirits.

Thank goodness also for travel insurance!

Racing was at Lake Macquarie in New South Wales in early May this year . Harriet raced well this year finishing first in her age group. This is her first Australian Champs win.

After her good result there she was looking forward to going to Canada for the World Championships in July.